Transitioning to new location for Bette's Journal

For several technical reasons, I am going to move this blog across the blogosphere -- a few of my older posts will be copied over, and all new ones will be posted there from today.

Visit me there? www.bettecox.wordpress.com.

And visit my other blogs, too, listed on that site. I hope you will.

Experiment drawing to a close

The experiment of republic-style government in America is being closed down, I think. We have had over 200 years of it now. We should have had it right by now, but in these last few years we seem to have made a mess of it. I think we are seeing it end before our very eyes.

The first government was established in the Garden when, after the fall, God put Adam in charge of the family unit. He was assigned to be the decision-maker. By the time of Moses, a multi-layered organizational structure was needed to help handle those decisions.

Then came the day that Israel demanded a different form of government and God let them have it. They wanted a king, not a priest. Of course, that didn't work out too well...

Over the thousands of years of human history many forms of governing have been tried: dictatorships, monarchies, republics and everything in between. In some eras and some parts of the world, years of anarchy separated these governmental forms.

Certain types seem to outlast others, their longevity depending on many factors. The culture. The societal structure. Character, personality and intelligence, education, wisdom, determination and zeal of leaders. Number of advisors. Number of subjects. Wealth or lack of natural and human resources.

Some forms don't last. Government by committee doesn't last. Benevolent dictatorship or monarchy last longer. But few nation-wide governmental experiments last more than a couple of hundred years, and ours may have run its course. America doesn't resemble the country I grew up in.

What's next? Socialism? That's been tried multiple times elsewhere and failed each time. Humans who can never be perfect and don't really love their fellow man claim it's just never been done right. But like every other imperfect human they won't be able to keep their fingers out of the public till. That try will fail too.

We'll see. Whoever it is that chooses, and I believe somebody is out there doing the choosing, is watching this American experiment wind down. I'm interested to see what develops over the next decade.

Christmas

I didn't put up any Christmas decorations this year, only scotch taped the cards I received to the inside of my front door as usual. There weren't as many cards this year as last, and a number of those were political... photos of the candidate with his family mostly. A couple of family cards were photos also, which I sort of like since I don't see these people very often. Only a small few were even Christ-centered this year.

I didn't send any cards, didn't send a newsletter, didn't send an email blast. Somehow it didn't seem like a time for celebrating. I sent a check to my grandson Erik for his new baby, sent subscriptions to the Smithsonian magazine to my children and brother, but other than that - no presents, either. I did receive a couple of small gifts from my daughter Shelby, and bought myself some books. Thanksgiving and Christmas lunches were spent with Shelby and her father, who is in poor health. Shelby and I went to a couple of movies.

A strange sort of atmosphere seems to have enveloped my mind over the last few months, almost like waiting for the other shoe to fall. My spirit seems to be listening for a sound, a signal. I read a lot of international news, reading items from Jerusalem and Tehran and noting articles never reported by the American press.

Much of 2009 has been an odd season for me and 2010 may be a continuation of that, who knows. For now I'm glad the holidays are over, and despite not really celebrating the modern-day Christmas I do celebrate the fact and presence of Jesus in my life.

I think I will transition this blog from remembrances of Tim into more of a "journey" journal. We'll see...